Bachelor of Arts in Health and Physical Education

About the B.A. in Physical Education or B.A. in Health and Physical Education Degrees

Cedarville’s distinctly Christian, accredited physical education or health and physical education majors will train you to teach health and physical education to grades preK–12 in Christian or public schools. You will receive a multi-level background in fitness, sport, recreational, and health, all taught with a biblical worldview. You will graduate with the knowledge, skills, values, and teaching competencies you will need to be an effective teacher, and most importantly, equipped to impact your students for Christ.

Why Study Heath and Physical Education at Cedarville?

Health and Physical Education Program Highlights

Two tracks — Choose Multi-Age Physical Education (MAPE) or Multi-Age Health/Physical Education (MAHPE) for your teaching license. After completing the MAHPE/MAPE program and passing of the Ohio Assessments for Educators (OEA) exam, you will receive the Ohio Department of Education Multi-Age Licensure for Teaching in grades PreK–12.

Student teaching options — You can choose to complete your student teaching experience locally in Christian and public schools or in a foreign country approved by the School of Education.

Changing lives — We believe that a degree in education is the opportunity to change lives for the Kingdom of God and at Cedarville, you’ll find plenty of ways to pursue your passion and hone your teaching skills: tutoring local students, teaching in area ministries, and educating diverse communities.

Diverse — You will have field experiences or clinical practice for both conventional and distance learning programs that provide experiences with male and female grade PreK–12 students from different socioeconomic groups and ethnic/racial groups. You will also work with English language learners and students with disabilities during some of your field experiences and/or clinical practice to develop and practice your knowledge, skills, and professional dispositions for working with all students.

What Can I do With Health and Physical Education?

Our teacher-candidates are known for their quality of education, commitment to the field of education, and their diversified experiences to prepare them for teaching in the classroom. Cedarville education graduates are teaching all around the world in public, private, Christian, urban, international, and mission schools! Our majors have found great success in finding employment after graduation — last year 100% of our graduates who have wanted to find full-time teaching positions have found them. Public school districts, private academies, and charter schools across the country have found our students to be well prepared and imminently capable.

Testing Success! Every teacher candidate is required to complete licensure exams in order to be a licensed teacher in the state of Ohio. The teacher-candidates at Cedarville University are well prepared for these exams, as evidenced by our 97% success pass rate on the licensure exams (data from the 2016-2017 Ohio Assessment for Educators Pass rate Test Summary Results Analyzer). The average pass rate for teacher-candidates in the state of Ohio is 91% success.

As a graduate of the Teacher Education Program at Cedarville University, you will receive two teaching certifications. Our accreditation status enables you to receive a state of Ohio teaching license in your field of study that is transferable to any state in the U.S. You will also qualify to receive an Association of Christian Schools International (ACSI) certificate, which allows you to teach internationally and in Christian schools. The ACSI certificate is nationally recognized and does not require state-to-state transfer.

Opportunities to Learn Outside the Classroom

You coursework will be complemented by the following opportunities as you complete your Health and Physical education degree.

Field experiences early and often! — The School of Education believes that it is important that our teacher-candidates have many hands-on experiences in schools. That is why you will engage in local school settings during your first year as a teacher-candidate at Cedarville University and will continue to experience teaching within a school setting each year of your teacher training at Cedarville. By the time you graduate, you will have completed more than 250 hours in classroom experiences!

Real-world experience — As part of the Physical Education in the Elementary School course, you will teach a triweekly physical education course to local homeschool students, gaining real-world experience and putting into practice what you are learning in class.

Chi Delta Epsilon — Cedarville's education student organization is a Christ-centered community built on equipping teachers to serve each other and those around them. Throughout the year, you will participate in professional growth events, ministry opportunities, and fun activities. You’ll also have ministry opportunities through the adopt-a-senior program, the birthday ministry, breakfast for teachers, and other ministries. Any education major is welcome!

Pi Epsilon Omega — PEO is the student physical education organization at Cedarville University. This organization is open to Multi-Age Health and Physical Education majors. The organization was created by students, with the goal of bringing students in the major together in a mentorship program, to serve others, to develop professionalism, and to apply Christian principles to physical activity and sports. PEO strives to reach these goals through regular meetings, bi-yearly service projects, membership socials, service projects, and professional meetings.

The Xenia Partnership Program — This is a new and exciting program that allows you to be a part of a field experience and classroom learning within one of the schools in nearby Xenia City School District. You will learn teaching strategies and practices from Cedarville University professors while engaging those practices and theories in real classrooms with real students and teachers.

Cross-cultural experiences/classes in Ireland — This year, our faculty will be lead a group of teacher- candidates to Ireland to complete several of the core teaching courses in another culture. As part of this three-week adventure, you will earn credit for your courses, observe classrooms and the education system in another country, and have one-on-one opportunities to minister to the people of Ireland.

Overseas student teaching program — You may choose to complete your student-teaching experience overseas. This experience occurs as the final semester of your study as a teacher-candidate at Cedarville University. You will spend approximately 16 weeks overseas in an English-speaking school. The School of Education of Cedarville University works with CCTEC to coordinate an overseas experience for teacher-candidates who wish to complete their student teaching internship abroad. You may choose to go to almost any country in the world and will receive specialized training for this experience.
Recent teacher-candidates have completed their Overseas Student Teaching Program in the following countries: